Wanted Dead or Alive
by Rochelle B2
Summary: As anti-mutant feeling rises Pyro is linked to the death of a politician. The X-men step in to save him but so many things have changed at the Institute that maybe he truly doesn’t belong there. SLASH.


Wanted Dead or Alive

I don't own anything you can clearly identify.

Author: Rochelle B Two

Rating: PG-13 to R-ish

Fandom: X-Men/X2

Notes: This pulls in a few comic characters, is very slash-tastic and angst laden, but also weirdly fluffy and…stuff. It's weird. But fun, I think.

Pairings: Scott/Logan, Bobby/John, Storm/Kurt, Rouge/Remy, Mystique/Magneto, Toad/Sabertooth, and others.

Summery: As anti-mutant feeling rises Pyro is linked to the death of a politician. The X-men step in to save him but so many things have changed at the Institute that maybe he truly doesn't belong there.

Warnings: OH….damn. Just make a list and odds are I'll throw it in at some point.

Titles: Wanted Dead or Alive- Bon Jovi "Cowboy" Why Don't You Slide- Goo Goo Dolls "Slide"

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Chapter One

Why Don't you Slide

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Bobby leaned against the doorframe heavily and watched the van make its way up the driveway slowly. Another batch of kids. New freaks for the funny farm. He scuffed the toe of his sneakers against the concrete stairs.

One of those kids would be his new roommate. They would move someone else in and just…sweep over John, that much was crystal clear. They'd moved his things out, packed them up and put them in the attic and removed all pictures of him. Anything that indicated that John had once been here was gone. Except for Bobby.

Ah, yes, him. Robert Drake. Everyone else was willing to pretend that John had never been here, had simply…never existed. No one talked about him or wondered why he had left them. Professor X didn't ponder what they had done wrong to make John defect like that. Scott didn't beat himself up wondering how they had failed Johnny.

Nope.

No one cared.

They were just paving over him.

Will they pave me over as well? His lips twisted into a parody of a smile at the thought, before he pushed off of the wall to join his fellow students in the 'meet and greet' ritual they always engaged in. As he crossed his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels he remembered the day Johnny had greeted him.

"Hey." His voice had a faint accent that Bobby couldn't quite place in his mind. His hair was brown and pushed back from his eyes which seemed to…burn right through him. He had to fight off a blush because he had never felt most exposed that he had in that instant. Who was this guy and why did he make him feel so…strange.

It felt like…butterflies. His mother would call it butterflies in the stomach. That feeling he was supposed to get when he met a pretty girl for a first time, not when he was confronted with some strange mutant boy. Another freak like him.

"Hi."

"I'm St. John. John's fine. I'm supposed to show you to your room and all of the 'child safe' areas of the mansion but…to be blunt I don't want to." He pulled his hands out of his pocket and

Click

Click

Began to flick his lighter open and shut. "You can ask Pete to show you around or you can come into town with me. It's up to you."

Click

Click

Bobby hesitated only a moment, eyeing the tall teenager John had nodded to when he said 'Pete'. He was just a little bit scary and, Bobby was sure of this much, more than capable of breaking his tiny little body into many many pieces.

He went with John.

He'd pretty much followed John for the next three and a half years. Even after meeting Rouge he'd followed John like a helpless puppy, always wanting to be into what ever it was John was stirring up that day. Rouge had frowned, thinking the chaos and trouble they liked to stir up was childish and, once again the puppy, he's done what it took to make her happy.

No more late night adventures, no more beating up bigoted idiots with his powers, or making it snow in the middle of July just because he could. He'd begun to reign in his abilities, to subscribe to that line about not flaunting his abilities and trying to live with humans. But that had never been Johnny. He thought towing the line and acting 'normal' was some kind of serious sin. That it was like…being afraid of what you were.

Afraid of who you were born to be.

Yeah. Bobby was good at being completely terrified of who he was, really was, but when he was with John he could kind of forget how scared he was. Because John wasn't scared of anything and that made everything okay for him.

John pulled away from him, eyes narrowed in thought. Bobby's hand moved, unbidden, to his lips. He touched them and found they felt the same and yet…they tingled with tiny sparks of heat that he knew couldn't have been there before.

"John-"

"Bobby." John said conversationally, as if he hadn't just rocked Bobby's entire world on its axis by daring to cross the lines between friend and…and something else. John had just kissed him, all lips and tongue and fiery heat and by god he was pretty sure John had coped a feel on his ass and he'd never been touched like that.

Hell, he'd never been looked at like someone wanted to touch him like that.

John leaned again, clearly seeking another kiss and Bobby jerked back without thinking. He didn't want to move really. He really wanted to kiss again. Wanted John to do that thing with his tongue again, because Bobby had felt his heart skip a beat when he did it. But he couldn't because…because he loved Rouge. And he liked girls. And he didn't like boys. And John was his best friend, and even if he got all sweaty and tingled when John touched him he couldn't…

John's hand reached out and touched his cheek and it was all so goddamn warm and he loved it because he was always just a few degrees below normal human temperature. And John was always just a few degrees above it.

"Have you ever wondered why you date a girl you can never touch?" His tone was so mild, so innocent and unassuming, that it caught Bobby unprepared. His mouth opened to defend himself but his mind couldn't think of an answer. Would never think of an answer.

So instead he batted John's away and repeated the line he'd told himself a million times, lame though it was. "I don't need to touch her to love her."

"But maybe you need to not touch her to convince yourself that you do." John frowned for a moment, searching his eyes, then shook his head and swept into a low bow. Then he turned to leave. If that's how you want it."

And he'd left. Bobby was pretty sure Johnny had left him that day, in the middle of the TV room, and not at Alkali Lake. He'd turned and walked away, retreating to their room, and had shut himself away because Bobby was utterly terrified of him and his damning heat.

John was like Hell. He burned, raged, hurt and was with you forever. Bobby thought it ironic that his ticket to hell would be written because he was in love with a boy who could probably control the flames of Hell if he were so inclined.

"Timothy this will be your roommate."

The boy was taller than Bobby with a wild mass of red and black hair that curled under his ears. His eyes were black with just a hint of green around the irises. His eyes were just a little too wide and observant, taking in every inch of the grounds in a matter of moments, memorizing.

Like John. John had known every inch of everything because you never knew when you wouldn't have to beat a hasty retreat in order to save your ass and it helped to know every available exit. He had eyes like Jubilee and Logan. Old.

Too old for the face they were set in.

"I'm Bobby Drake."

"Timothy Fitzgerald."

"C'mon. I'll show you around."

Really Bobby ached to be hiding down by the lake, sitting on the dock with his feet dangling just over the cool waters and watching John smoke. Watching pale cherry lips wrap around a cigarette or a joint, watching white wisps of smoke curl up to join the clouds, watch his pink tongue dart out to wet his lips. His fingers itched to feel John's skin brush against his own when he passed it along, sharing the wealth as it were.

Ached to hear that raspy chuckle and the **_click click _**of his lighter.

* * *

"I worry about Bobby." Professor Xavier said as he watched the brunette lead his new roommate up the front steps. Scott Summers, the first student of his school, looked at him. His face, with his eyes hidden behind reflective crimson, gave away nothing. It never did. 

Jean wouldn't pry into his thoughts if she thought nothing was wrong so he had learned to school his face expressions, learned to fake apathy in order to keep her already hectic and overworked mind at ease.

Now, at times, he wondered if had forgotten how to turn the mask off. He knew that the death of his wife, his soul mate, his…his…everything hurt. It had to hurt. Had to rip apart his insides and leave him empty and gaping on the inside. Had to claw at his brain and his heart, had to threaten to crush everything that he was.

And yet he was strangely numb to it. It was like he was just watching everything go by, watching the mourners with disinterest. He'd held Jean's sister while she sobbed into his chest before she'd damned him to hell for allowing his sister to die, damned mutants, damned angry humans, damned God, damned the entire fucking world because how dare it take her sister away from her.

She'd been so angry. So hurt. She'd wanted it all to just be over.

She had felt so much.

And as he'd held her trembling body he'd felt nothing.

It was almost like being under Stryker's control.

"His mind is…troubled." Xavier continued. Scott could almost hear the 'As is yours' that Xavier's eyes reflected.

"We're all troubled Professor. Humans are more aware of us and hatred is spreading fast. It isn't safe for young mutants anymore. The news is full of reports of them losing control and being punished." Scott made a vague gesture with his hand.

"Yes. But none of that concerns Bobby. He feels quite safe within these walls."

Funny. Scott just felt…constrained. Like something was threatening to crush the life out him. He had once felt safe here, hadn't he? Had that changed with Jean's death?

"So what is it?"

"John."

Scott's fingers flexed at the mention of that little traitors name. He'd run off with Magneto, hadn't known if they, the people who'd saved him from his abusive bastard of a father, would live or die. And for what? A few cheap thrills and the chance to unleash his 'fearsome' powers?

He'd end up like Mortimer.

It was a little known fact that Mortimer and Victor had been part of the original class of X-men, along with him, Jean, Storm, and Hank. They had left shortly before graduation to join up with Magneto and Mystique and a fat lot of good that did them.

Toad was probably at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and Victor…well, he didn't know and sure as hell didn't care what had become of the feral mutant. They hadn't been friends or anything resembling it. Victor was too…rough. Toad had been too dirty. Too harsh.

Everything X-men weren't supposed to be.

Victor and Logan were very much alike.

"They were very good friends."

"Perhaps." Xavier said so softly hat Scott almost missed it. "You'll keep an eye on him for me please?"

"If you want."

"Thank you Scott." The man reached out and touched his hand for a brief moment. "Look after yourself too. I worry about you Scott." And then he was going down the hallway, greeting some of the new students as he went. Scott stood, back rigid and straight as he considered that.

Look after himself? Worried about him?

How strange. He was in total control of his feelings. He was in control because…because they weren't there. It had hurt for an instant, a few days, and now it was gone and he had control over everything. He couldn't let Jean's death stop him, weigh him down. He had kids to look after.

He had responsibilities to attend to.

He turned to walk down the hall to his Psychology class and came face to face…well maybe face to chest, with Logan. The other man stared at him, arching an eyebrow slowly.

"Hey Slim."

"Logan." For some reason ever time he saw the man he couldn't help but be surprised. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he was sure that Logan was going to leave. After all that was the type of person he was. Unpredictable, irresponsible, and only concerned with himself. It made no sense for him to remain at the mansion like he was doing.

Scott hated things that didn't make sense. He needed order right now, needed everything to flow along the set path or else…or else.

"I didn't expect to see you." Was all he said though.

The man eyed him silently then sighed. "I've got responsibilities too Slim. Red wouldn't want me to run out on you…and the kids now."

Scott couldn't help but register the long pause but pushed it aside. It wasn't like it meant anything. Logan was just being Logan. He nodded slowly.

"We could always use the help, of course. I have a class so I guess I'll see you later."

He could almost feel Logan's smirk. "Yes you will."

A chill ran up his spine.

* * *

Good? Bad? Should I be dragged out back and shot in the head? Let me know. 


End file.
